Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.

Lived in Mi. for 65 years, had a beautiful home on a chain-of-lakes near
Traverse City, had to move due to wife's illness,(can't stand the cold winters)

We are now leaving Fl. due to taxes, insurance, (both car and home) and
looking elswhere in the central U.S.. Believe me, taxes, insurance, utilities,
anything you want to talk about are more reasonable in Mi. than virtually
anywhere else. Perhaps that's a good portion of the cause of the problems
they face, but there's no better place to live cost wise.

Perhaps that's a good portion of the cause of the problems
they face, but there's no better place to live cost wise.

Indeed, I think that's a big part of the problem. As a recent-comer, what I see is an anti-tax sentiment due to a belief that the money will be misused, especially in Detroit. This is not unusual (look at the divide between Harrisburg and Philadelphia/Pittsburgh), but I've never seen as much animosity between urban and rural as there is here. We all take jabs at Kilpatrick here, but what did you expect once the downward slide happened? You know the difference between Detroit and Philadelphia as we stand today? Most everyone plain gave up and there's hardly a pulse now in Detroit. In the worse of times, Philadelphia still fought during the early 90s and enough people stuck around to help turn things around. I don't blame anyone for bailing, especially once it got to a certain point, but it happened. The question now is, how do we fix it? One can discard urban centers in a state with aspirations just as plausibly as one can cut off their head and function. MI will never be as great as it once was without Detroit shining. So MI has a choice now - fade into a nice, but lower-tier state like Iowa with small functioning cities like GR and Des Moines, or regain its stature as a top-tier state like MA, PA, etc. with renewed, internationally-known urban centers. Heck, even states with cities not in a fatal decline, such as Chicago and NY, got the picture and put their support behind their cities. Now no one remembers how poorly they were really doing in the 80s and early 90s. MY $0.02.

My cousins husband just lost his job, not sure which company he worked for though. I believe he was the CFO, and he's not having the best of luck finding other work either. Couple things working against him. Alot of people don't want to hire someone for a lower positions and the other is that he's in his late 40's I think so he may be older than people would prefer.

The anti-tax thing I think is also due to a fear that any sort of taxation will drive away business. We are well known to undertax, and are there new businesses streaming into the state? Not that I've noticed.

Check this out.......We moved to the U.P. from Wisconsin about a year ago. The company I was working for shut it's doors a few months after we moved here. The best job I had since paid $9.25 an hour, with NO benefits or insurance. This is the EXACT SAME job I did in WI for over $50,000/yr in 2005.(retail managment) Needless to say, we will be foreclosing on our home next month, packing up and NEVER looking back. We will truly miss the physical area, but I can't make a living camping or fishing!

Its hard to evaluate Michigan's economy. In the late 1970s, things were bleak. Then, sometime around 1983, things picked back up unil 1989ish. There was a boom sometime around 1993 that went until 1998, since then, steady decline.

I grew up in MI and now work in MI. In the past, my position has allowed me to relocated to other states and to other countries for 2-3 year assignments. However, I've never been able to understand any patterns in MI economy. Some people get great jobs and have excellent businesses in "bad times" and others can't seem to find work even in "good times". I think what's different now is that while the rest of the country had a good housing market, Michigan has had a forclosure type housing market for a long time now. People are actually taking loans to sell their homes. Their biggest investments are dropping while taxes are increasing. Furthermore, those that made their life here are forced to leave; fixed income retirement in MI is financially foolish. Lansing, in general, seems to be trying to fix fiscal problems with short term fixes but telling MI residents they are long term solutions that only look like short term ones. Ultimately, they are driving business out and taxes up. Detroit wants the rest of the state and country to "help" them yet, wants to promote division in race and city at the same time. I see that some people relocate from some areas of the country with even higher taxes and think Michigan is better. We just don't buy the story that MI should copy high taxed state. Those states should be thinking of ways to lower their taxes, not being used as the model.

Although the city is improving and metro is still expanding, the loss of investment, high tax increases, and government mistrust is creating lost hope. Hope is what drives the economy.

I read on this board that someone is claiming to be enjoying all the restraunts and hotels in Detroit, purchasing toys and enjoying the water sports on the Great Lakes, and generally taunting Michiganians. Ignore him. When his mom and dad kick him out, he might even have to get a job too.

I relocated to IL thirty years ago and could not wait to get back. Twenty seven years ago I relocated back to MI. I am here to stay. I've worked hard to get where I'm at today and didn't depend on anyone else to get here. As mentioned before the auto industry in MI has shot it self in the foot. Not low mileage cars, but high pay for unskilled labor. Thank the unions for running the auto industry out of MI. When back in the eighties an assembly line worker started at a wage twenty percent higher than a teacher with a masters degree it couldn't last for ever. I don't think they should work for minimum wage but a more resonable wage would have kept the price of US cars competitive with the imports. Just my six percent worth same as the over priced sales tax

Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.